NBA Please Answer 2007

Chapter 207 The CEO's Concern

The Lakers were originally the champions in the eyes of the media, but after Gasol was injured, the future of the Lakers suddenly became confusing.

Most Lakers fans are Kobe fans.After last year's Finals, Gasol was pulled out by fans as a fig leaf. They believed that Gasol's softness made the Lakers lose the chance to touch the championship.But now without Gasol, the Lakers fans fell into despair for a moment, and the voices supporting the Lakers' revenge for the championship were much less.

Instead, there are calls to support the Warriors' reversal of the Lakers and their march to the Western Conference Finals.Fans like heroes, and the Warriors are playing such a role now.The Lakers are too eye-catching this season. The so-called big tree attracts the wind, followed by some crazy bees and butterflies to discredit the Lakers.The issue of the Lakers' star whistle has been put on the bright side for discussion.

In the NBA president's office, Vice President Adam Silver said: "David, the public opinion is not good for the Lakers now, should we control it?"

Stern was silent. The Lakers had always been Stern's favorite team. Kobe was also a star he held in his hands. The Lakers' star whistle in the playoffs was inspired by him.If the Lakers successfully win the championship this season, then the problem of star whistle will no longer be a problem. No one will care about the process.But now that the Lakers have Gasol, it's still a matter of whether they can win the championship.

Stern said: "Issue a statement to warn the referees in this series to enforce the law strictly and not to be unfair." Adam Silver got the answer he wanted and nodded with a smile.

Stern sighed and said, "How is Li Zhi's performance this season?"

Adam Silver said with a smile: "His performance is very good. He was selected to the best team in the second season. If he didn't miss the game due to injury, he could also compete for MVP. Moreover, he has a Chinese background, and his media image has always been good. In terms of the performance of rookies in the same period, he can be ranked in the forefront."

Stern nodded and said, "There is one more thing you didn't say. Leno Lehman and Lacob are going to jointly acquire the Warriors. Li Zhi is Leno Lehman's brother. The relationship between the two has always been very good. I think if he and Leno Lehman don't fall out, they will never leave the Warriors for the rest of their lives."

A flash of understanding flashed in Xiao Hua's eyes, and he said: "Then he meets our requirements of "one person, one city", why don't we praise him?"

The 23VS24 that the league has been touting in recent years can't last for a few years. The future of the Lakers this season is still unclear. James is also alone in the East. Now is the best time to make a god.

Li Zhi is Chinese, Durant has the same potential as him, and Rose and James are in the East. This kind of gimmick is no less than 23vs24.

……

The fourth game between the Warriors and the Lakers continued at the Oracle Center. The Lakers lost Gasol, who was a headache for Nelson, and the Warriors had multiple options for their lineup.

Nelson boldly asked the Warriors to double-team Kobe. First, Jackson defended alone, and then Barnes and Li Zhi defended on one side.

Lakers starting lineup, Odom replaced the injured Gasol, others unchanged.After the opening game, people found that the Lakers had no advantage inside. Bynum couldn't squeeze into the inside when he beat O'Neal.

Odom is entangled by Milicic, and the low-post offense cannot be opened. Milicic's defensive ability has improved, and it is difficult for Odom to take advantage of Milicic.The Warriors adopted man-to-man tactics to prevent the Lakers' inside line to death, and took the initiative from the beginning.

Li Zhi has no pressure to defend Ariza, and Barnes is also struggling to defend Fisher.At this time, the Lakers can only rely on Kobe.

Jackson came up just to stick to the defense, completely ignoring the issue of physical exertion. He was tired and Gerald Green was there.The Lakers' tactics were also man-to-man, but Li Zhi scored consecutively as soon as he came up, feeling hot.For this game, Li Zhi deliberately practiced extra shots during the game, and he had already found his touch before the game.He dodges Ariza's jumper and breaks into the inside to make a strong hit. Ariza can't guard Li Zhi.

After playing for 5 minutes, the Lakers changed their defensive strategy. Ariza followed Li Zhi, and the defensive center of gravity moved to Li Zhi. The Lakers relaxed their defense against Barnes.But Barnes also felt good today. Li Zhi passed the ball to Barnes, and he shot directly. After Barnes scored 6 points in a row, the Lakers didn't dare to let him go.

He couldn't defend on the defensive end, and Kobe was also restricted on the offensive end. It was difficult to pass the ball after being double-teamed, and it was even more difficult to turn around the ball.In this game, Kobe's shooting touch has been cold.Many people have already seen that the Lakers' game is more or less ominous.

Some fans even have this idea: Gasol's role in the Lakers is much greater than Kobe's. Without Gasol, the Lakers are at the level of the playoffs.

What's worse is that Kobe's star whistle is gone. Usually when he breaks through, as long as someone touches him, he will be called a foul. Now he breaks through and the Warriors double-team him.

The referee would not dare to give Kobe the star whistle now, but David Stern personally notified them that the game must be strictly enforced.Now the voice of the outside world supporting the Warriors is louder, and Kobe's star whistle has quietly transferred to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi played this game very easily, just like the regular season, he made many layups and made fouls. After 6 minutes of the game, Odom had already been sent off for two fouls.

Without the star whistle, this made Kobe's situation a bit worse. He had a fierce confrontation with Jackson and was blown away when he broke through.

On Li Zhi's side, he made consecutive fouls. His physique was already good. Now that he was given a star whistle, the Lakers couldn't defend at all.

Odom was sent off and the Lakers went to Wharton, but Wharton's defense was not as good as Odom's, and the offensive end declined even more.Milicic doesn't need much effort at all, he can grab rebounds easily, and now he is enjoying the fun of unscrupulous rebounding.

Walton was emptied, and Milicic also double-teamed Kobe from time to time. At the critical moment, Kobe passed the ball to Walton, but Walton couldn't make it at all.Milicic did not go inside and scored 7 rebounds in a single quarter.O'Neal paddled the water, and Bynum couldn't get inside.

After the first quarter, the Warriors led the Lakers by 35 points 20:15.Fan support, star whistle treatment, Gasol's absence, multiple factors combined, the Lakers are not the Warriors' opponents.Kobe scored 12 points in the first quarter, but the rest of the Lakers were guarded by the Warriors.

In the second quarter, Kobe took a break, and the Lakers' bench was even weaker.Crawford continued to perform well, hitting the Lakers' bench with no power to parry.Halfway through the second quarter, the Warriors had already led by 22 points, and the Lakers had no hope.

The Lakers replaced the main force, and the Warriors also replaced the starter.This time the defense of Kobe was replaced by Barnes. He kept pressing Kobe, and Kobe would double-team the Warriors when he broke through.

In this game, Kobe has no teammates who can stand up. When the pass is passed, his teammates can't make a shot. Walton and Bynum can only fight within the frame.

At the end of the half, the Warriors widened the point difference to 24 points. Kobe scored 18 points in the first half, but this was in exchange for a high shot.

The Lakers' offense did not improve in the second half, and they had already lost to the Warriors.Kobe scored a lot in the third quarter, but Li Zhi also showed his strength on the Warriors side, scoring 8 points in a single quarter, and Ariza was called for two fouls.

The Warriors continued to take the lead in the third quarter, and the Lakers were gone.In the fourth quarter, the Lakers replaced the main force after a few minutes of playing. Kobe played to the end, and the Lakers still had no hope.

最终120：95，勇士大胜25分，李治打了36分钟，拿下30分3篮板3助攻2盖帽。米利西奇拿到16分16篮板。奥尼尔、巴恩斯、克劳福德也表现出色，杰克逊全场都在防守，进攻上没什么作为。

Kobe scored 44 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He tried his best, but there was still no way to save the Lakers.

In an interview after the game, Phil Jackson said that there was a problem with the referee's whistle in this game, and the Lakers will win the next game.

When the Warriors fans heard Jackson's answer, they looked like hehe, is it unfair not to give you a star whistle?
The Lakers returned to the home court in the fifth game, but the result still made the Lakers fans see no hope. They lost again, and it was the battle of Tianwangshan.

The total score became 2:3, and the Warriors are about to advance.

Another group of semifinals in the Western Conference has already had results. The Rockets defeated the Nuggets 4:3.Their game started early and ended early. Although the Rockets won the game, they paid a heavy price.

With 5 minutes left in the game, Anthony pushed Yao Ming to his knee in a defense in the paint area. Yao Ming suddenly seemed to have been hit to the point. He covered his knees with his hands and fell to the ground in pain.

Everyone on the Rockets team was dumbfounded. Yao Ming's knee had been injured before, and Yao Ming must have been injured so badly in such pain.At this time Yao Ming is the hope of the whole team. If he ends up at this moment, the whole team will inevitably lose their morale and even fall short. How can they compete with the Nuggets?The Rockets team doctor Jones rushed to the field, and the general manager Morey, who was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, was not calm, and then rushed to the field.

Yao Ming was still lying on the ground. Jones pressed him and asked continuously: "How? How?" Yao Ming replied in pain: "I don't know, it just hurts." Then Yao Ming limped to the locker room with the support of the staff, but when he passed the player tunnel, Yao Ming seemed to feel less pain, so he shouted to the team doctor: "I'm fine, let me try first." The team doctor refused to take such a risk and firmly disagreed.Yao Ming got impatient and shouted at Jones: "Wait a while." Jones became even more anxious and insisted on taking him back to the locker room.

All Yao Ming wanted at the moment was to return to the field. The tall Yao Ming stared at the team doctor for a few seconds, and said sternly: "I wanna go back." He said this sentence twice in a row, and Jones was completely dumbfounded.The fans of the Rockets watched Yao Ming, who was still lying on the ground, return to the court in less than a minute. There was thunderous applause at the scene, and they all paid tribute to the Eastern hero.

Yao Ming quickly returned to the court, and soon after, he hit a mid-range shot.With this shot, the morale of the team has been greatly improved.In the final 4 minutes of Yao Ming's strong return, the team scored a total of 15 points, and 8 of them came from Yao Ming with an injured leg. Everyone was stunned to have such a performance.In the end, Yao Ming contributed 28 points and 10 rebounds in the game to lead the Rockets to win the Nuggets.After the game, Rockets coach Adelman was full of praise, bluntly saying that Rocky (the legendary hero played by Stallone) returned to the court.

As an opponent, Anthony also praised Yao Ming, and the Nuggets were convinced that they lost.

But the test report after the game was not satisfactory, and Yao Ming probably won't appear in the next game.Li Zhi did not expect that the Rockets did not meet the Lakers in this life, but the disaster still happened.He called Yao Ming, who just told him not to worry.

For domestic fans, such a news is tantamount to bad news. Originally, they might have seen the duel between the two Chinese in the Western Conference Finals, but now it seems that there is no hope.

(End of this chapter)